


Harsh Whisper

by Control_Room



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kisses, Love, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars, Sweet, but its all good, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22627696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Control_Room/pseuds/Control_Room
Summary: We can try.from a tumblr microprompt
Relationships: Joey Drew/Henry Stein
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	Harsh Whisper

“You’re beautiful, Joey, that you are,” Henry’s words were a harsh whisper, but the words he said were sweeter than sugar filled dew drops. “Stunning. Smart. What more could I ask for?”

“Ah, a more morally balanced partner?” Joey offered, but instantly shut down when Henry’s lips pressed to his. “Mmm….”

Johan’s whole body was on the fritz, inside and out. He could not control himself, of course not, not with Henry so close to him, not with Henry’s words ringing in his ears, not with Henry kissing him so perfectly.

A kiss, long and chaste, Joey’s arms wrapped around Henry’s shoulders, pulling him closer with every movement between them. Henry tugged on the loose shirt residing on Johan, a silent question that only they understood. A question, that for once, Joey actually thought about for more than a flickering instant.

He pulled away from Henry’s enticing lips, trailing kisses across his unevenly stubbled cheek to his ear, and whispered, “I think we can try.”

“You sure?” Henry murmured back, surprised. Johan nodded, pulling away, leaning back to take off the tank top, much to Henry’s growing wonder. Even though he had taken it off of Johan during that incident, the chicano had later confessed that he only allowed him because he was facing him - it was his back that was problematic. “Oh, oh, uh, want me to close my eyes?”

“Hang on, just… don’t look yet,” Johan exhaled in reply. Somehow they managed to adjust their positions, Henry straddling Joey’s waist, Johan twisting to go face down. “This alright?”

Tank top discarded, Johan’s chest pressed to the bed, his deepest fears laid out before the doctor, and he could do nothing, and he did not want to do anything.

“Well, are you alright?” Henry breathed back in reply, his eyes still closed, hands running over the normally hidden skin of Joey’s back. The incapacitated Joey hummed in reply, not trusting his voice. Henry nodded, then remembered Johan could not see the gesture. “Just tell me if it goes south.”

The soft pad of the doctor in training’s finger ran over the ridges on Johan’s back that outlined his scars, sending his heart pounding and his breathing off the charts, but a squeeze to the back of his hand returned him to himself.

“You’re here with me, right?” Henry’s husky tone was low in his ear, that harsh whisper stealing his voice, forcing him to swallow and nod. “Good. You sure you want to do this?”

“I need to, or else I don’t think I’m ever going to get better,” Joey managed to reply. “So get on with it, please.”

“Alright.”

There was a pause, one that Joey expected. He knew this would be difficult for both of them. Henry’s lips pressed to the space between Johan’s shoulder blades, sending shivers ricochetting through the lanky man’s spine. 

“I’m going to look now.”

“Please.”

A gasp, a surprising one. Henry was not one to be taken off guard. Joey’s fears instantly spiked.

“J-Joey….” Henry swallowed, whetting his lips. In the moonlight, he could see the silvery skin of Joey’s scar crossed back reflect back at him, reflecting far too much back at him. He could almost see his terror stricken face shining back to him. “I felt scars, but… hell….”

“I know it’s… it’s not pretty,” Johan winced at the pain and horror in Henry’s normally strong and rough voice, closing his eyes tight to block out the red flags swarming his vision. “But I know that you should see them, I gotta… I gotta trust you.”

“You’re not nothing,” Henry said after a moment. Johan froze. Henry’s fingers traced over the scars on Joey’s back, those scars, there was nothing on his back, nothing, nothing, he was nothing, he was noth- “You’re not nothing.”

“Henry,” Johan gasped, shaking. “Henry, I c-can’t, st-stop, please, I can’t ‘t’s too much, stop.”

“It’s ok, it’s okay, I got you,” Henry quickly turned Joey back to his front. Kisses peppered all over Joey’s pained face, trying to kiss away his anguish. “Shh, shh, I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

Johan grasped the sides of Henry’s face in his lithe hands, and pressed his mouth to the other’s in a silent plea, for what, he did not have the faintest idea. With a tilt of his head, he deepened the kiss, gaining a sound of shock from Henry. The stout man gave in to Joey’s nearly ferocious assault on his lips, opening his lips for him to draw out the taste. 

“I love you,” Johan sobbed when he pulled away, his voice breaking. “‘M not good ‘nough for you, ‘m nothin’, ‘m nothin’....”

“You’re not nothing,” Henry assured him. Joey only groaned, and Henry realized he had to snap him out of spiralling. He grabbed him back to his mouth, swallowing up every gasp and moan. A harsh whisper left his lips, directly to Joey’s, making him inhale sharply once more. “You’re everything, Johan Icarus.”

“I….”

“You’re gorgeous,” Henry kissed him once more, “A genius,” a deeper kiss punctuated his words, “So incredible,” he pushed Joey onto the bed, straddling him once more, and leaned in for a last kiss, “The polar opposite of nothing.”

Joey’s protests were stolen by Henry countering each one, by Henry grounding him to reality and kissing him out of his wits. Henry had taken over, the battle between them won with harsh whispers of soft, sweet, delightful words.

Henry’s hands ran over the skin of his body, ran over the scars of his life, and soaked in the details of it all. Maybe one day Johan would be able to show them again, maybe one day he would be able to believe those sweet, sugary words Henry whispered to him. 

“I love you,” came that harsh whisper, that harsh whisper with such melting words. The whisper grew softer as it realized that Joey was returning to himself. “I love you.”

“Love ya too, Henry,” Joey breathed, relaxing. “Love you, too.”


End file.
